Welcome Home, Niles
by iloveromance
Summary: Frasier finds it hard to be happy when his new baby brother Niles comes home from the hospital. Continuation of "Welcome, Niles Crane."


Frasier couldn't believe that his parents let him hold his new baby brother in the car on the way home from the hospital. And judging from the complaining that came from the driver's seat neither could his father. But his mom said nothing. She just touched Niles' tiny cheek and smiled. However, soon, Martin's grumbling became too much for her.

"Calm down Marty! I'm watching the baby! He'll be fine! And besides, Frasier needs to learn how to hold him."

"Yeah, but Frasier-."

"No _buts_ , Marty! Just keep your eyes on the road, all right?"

His father scoffed saying nothing more until they reached their house.

"Well, here we are, Niles. This is your new home." His father announced when he slowed the car to a stop at the curb in front of their house.

Frasier held onto the baby tightly while his mom and dad got out of the car.

"I'll go unlock the front door and start unloading all of this stuff." His dad said. "I've never seen so many flowers and balloons. And look at these toys! Oh geez! Niles will have so many damn toys, that-."

"Shh! Marty, what did I tell you about saying that word?" His mother scolded.

"And I told you before, Niles has no idea what that word even means!"

"Right and I'd like to keep it that way, at least until he goes to college! Now let's go inside, all right?"

His father grumbled and began to unlock the door but as soon as he opened it, they were greeted with shouts of _"SURPRISE!"_

"What's all this?" His mom asked.

Frasier looked at the sea of faces. Some he recognized, some he didn't. There were balloons and presents everywhere; more than he could possibly imagine. And there, hanging on the wall was a banner that read; _WELCOME HOME, NILES._

Frasier looked at his parents and scrunched up his face. "What does he need a welcome sign for? Niles can't read!"

Everyone in the room laughed so hard that Frasier hand to cover his ears. What had he said that was so funny?

"Oh my, this is such a wonderful surprise!" his mother said. "Thank you all so much!"

When the crowd of people came toward them, Frasier decided that maybe, just maybe, having a baby brother wasn't so great after all. Everyone completely ignored him and instead fussed over the baby, saying things like "Oh isn't he sweet? Can I hold him? And lots of other dumb stuff. Niles was passed around the room like a sack of flour and he was almost the same size. But Niles was no sack of flour. He was a baby and even though his mom told him differently, Frasier wasn't stupid.

Everyone liked Niles better.

* * *

Frasier pushed his way through the crowd and went to sit on the sofa. He sat in the exact spot that he liked to sit on Saturday mornings and watch cartoons. Now instead of watching cartoons, he watched all of the people around him go on and on about how cute the baby was. And his uncles, aunts, cousins and even grandparents didn't seem to know that Frasier was in the room. They just kept right on fussing. And meanwhile, Frasier sat on the sofa and sulked.

Suddenly the sofa cushion shifted but Niles didn't have to look over to know that his mom was now sitting beside him. He could smell the scent of her perfume. She always smelled like flowers.

"What are you doing here all by yourself?" She asked.

"Frasier just shrugged.

"You should be having fun, enjoying the party."

"I know…"

The silence loomed between them and suddenly she spoke again. "Hey, I know! Why don't we go into the kitchen? It smells like Grandma made one of her yummy vanilla cakes."

"No!" Frasier said glumly.

His mother looked surprised. "No? But Frasier you love Grandma's cake! What's wrong?"

"I don't want any if Niles can't have some too."

To his dismay, she threw her head back and laughed. "Niles is just a baby. He's much too little to eat cake. But you know what?"

"What?"

"I'll bet when he gets big enough, he'll love cake just as much as you do."

"Can I get him some of Grandma's cake?"

She laughed and hugged him. "I think Niles would like that a whole lot."

"I hope he likes me."

"What do you mean?"

"Niles… I hope he likes me."

"Of course he likes you! You're his big brother! What makes you think that he wouldn't?"

"No one here likes me. They make such a big deal about Niles because he's a baby. I'm not special anymore."

She hugged him again, tighter than before. "Oh Frasier, of course you're special. I'm sorry that you're feeling left out. They're just happy that Niles is home from the hospital. But you know what?"

"What?"

"Well, I'm going to let you in on a little secret."

He looked up with interest. "A secret?"

"This party isn't just for Niles. It's for you, too. In fact, they brought you presents."

His eyes widened. "They did?"

"Yes, I left them in your room. You can open them later. Now why don't we get some of that cake?"

"Okay, but can we bring Niles?"

"Frasier, I told you that Niles is too little to eat cake."

"I know, but he's my brother and I went to share it with him. He can watch me eat it so that he knows what to do when he gets old enough to have some."

His mother was smiling and Frasier knew that he'd made her happy. And that made him smile.

"That's a wonderful idea."

* * *

They sat at the kitchen table. Frasier smiled when his grandma put a big slice of cake on a plate in front of him and handed him a fork.

"Thank you, Grandma." He said, just the way he'd been taught.

Beside him his mother sat in a chair, holding Niles in her arms. Frasier proudly held up his fork.

"See, Niles? This is how you eat cake! Watch!" And then he shoved the cake into his mouth.

His grandma and mom both laughed and when his Aunt Tammy walked into the kitchen, she laughed too.

"Frasier?" She asked, taking the baby from his mother's arms. "How do you like being a big brother?"

"Can I hold him?"

His mother took Niles out of Aunt Tammy's arms and turned to Frasier. "All right, now hold your arms out just like Daddy showed you at the hospital, all right?"

Looking to his mother for guidance, Frasier held out his arms, remembering to bend them slightly, just like his dad had showed him. Seconds later, Niles was in his arms.

Frasier looked at his little brother's tiny face and little hands. It was hard to imagine that one day, Niles would be as big as him. It didn't seem possible.

"So how do you like being a big brother?" Aunt Tammy asked again.

Frasier hugged Niles as gently as he could and smiled. "I like it. I like it a lot."

 _THE END_


End file.
